Goal setting sounds great in theory, but how many of us can say we’ve actually accomplished our goals? I know for me it always seems to start out well. Write down your goals, maybe write them every day and carry them with you. But a year later nothing has changed! Let\’s be honest – most people simply cannot get things done just because they set their minds on accomplishing the goal at hand- even when broken up into little steps that gradually work towards those BIGGER GOALS!! If this is not true for you then congratulations! You have an inner drive probably unrivaled by any other person reading this passage so please stop right now; you don\’t need my pep talk 😉
In all seriousness though
But if you’ve set goals – and more goals – and even MORE
goals – but don\’t have what you want, or maybe you just hate setting up new ones. Then I\’m going to propose something different for your life: stop sweating the goal-setting thing altogether! Instead, focus on systems (like habits). You thought that was an old trick? Well it\’s not as easy as a habit is sometimes, so here\’s how they\’re different. Let\’s say we\’ve got this bench press example where someone wants to be able to lift 250 pounds…
You can make it a habit to do weight lifting at 6 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But if you don’t have a system for increasing your reps and weights over time, you\’ll never reach your goal. Habits are repeatable actions we all take without thinking–like going to the gym at certain times of the day or that one thing someone always does before they leave work in the evening. A good workout routine is like an efficient mental checklist: It becomes ingrained into our lives with repetition so there\’s no need to think about what needs doing.
Goals without systems are more than just challenging. Without a plan and strategy, you may find that your goals can hinder the progress of achieving them altogether! Princeton\’s theology school did an experiment to demonstrate this concept: they told their students to go teach on The Good Samaritan in another building on campus. You\’ll recall that the story is about a man who was beaten and left by the side of the road; others walked past him but only one stopped-the good samaritan helped him.
The Good Samaritan is a story that has been told for centuries. But the theology students who were rushing to teach it, proved just how bad they are at listening. One actor was planted on their path with an injury and in need of help; but none stopped even once to offer assistance or guidance as they rushed past him without so much as glancing his way. One person even stepped over the person in pain to get to the class.
The goal was to get to the class and make the presentation on time and the students were blind to any other possibility. They were so focused on that goal that they missed the bigger picture and personal perspective to help the injured person. But if these students had a system by which they lived, that system would likely have prioritized living the story of the Good Samaritan rather than just teaching it.
If you have a goal to earn a million dollars a year, you might bend rules, break laws or even hurt people to achieve that goal.
But if you have a system that says you make money by providing real value to others, then you’re going to stay on the right path.
I think of the difference between habits and systems like this:
- A habit is, “I write every day from 8am to 10am;
- A system is, “I work on writing a book every day from 8am to 10am for two months, at which time I’ve completed a book. For the next 3 weeks I market and promote the book during this time, and for the fourth week I do research and outline my next book during this time. And then I repeat the system.
This might be an oversimplification, but the point is the system has more flexibility than a habit, allowing you to adapt as you go.
Figure out what you want to achieve and then create systems to get you there. Build flexibility into your system so that when something unexpected happens, you know how to get back on track.
Lastly, focus on your system (the process or journey) and not on the goal (your destination). When you give your attention to where you are now (the system) you’ll find you’re much happier in the moment than if you are continually wishing for the goal itself. You’ll be able to celebrate little victories every single day by using your systems, rather than putting happiness off until you finally reach your destination.
Plus when you do reach your destination, because you have systems in place, you also won’t experience the paradoxical and yet all too common experience of feeling empty or sad because you no longer have that big goal to look forward to.
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